Feast of Sharing 2011!!

Good Afternoon, Fellow Foodies!  I had the pleasure of spending some time participating in the Feast of Sharing event that is sponsored by HEB!  It is a glorious event where people come together to help those less fortunate to have a great meal and to help them feel good during the Holiday Season.


If you are anything like me, the Holidays have multiple effects on me.  First off, I am very thankful for my Salvation through the blood of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  Secondly, I like most Americans get sucked into the commercialism of the Holidays and what that represents.  But the last one is the one that makes me think.  Before I jump into this, let me share a little background on what is done during the Feast of Sharing.


Volunteers come out in huge numbers to help serve over 18000 guests looking for a great meal and joy/good cheer during the Holidays.  As volunteers, we can do many different things like greeters, servers, runners, cleanup, and different activities for the children (reading, face painting, etc.).  I had the honor of working in the back in assembling the plates with the delicious food (glazed ham, mashed potatoes with brown gravy, mixed vegetables, dinner roll, and butter).  I got to work with a great team of volunteers and our line produced the most plates of any other line during that span of time (over 1200 plates in under 2 hours)!  It was a great time and a lot of nice fellowship amongst the volunteers!


As I walked out to leave, I got to look around at the people and my heart began to hurt.  Now, please don't misunderstand me; I was not feeling sorry for anyone, but I am jaded in my thinking that if they don't have what I have they must not be happy.  That is incorrect and not the case at all.  I saw people dressed in the best clothing they had and coming to an event that was very likely to be their big Christmas Event.  Many brought their children who were able to get free books and face painting.  The joy in their faces was quite infectious and completely clean and innocent.  I saw couples holding each other as they ate their food and listened to the music.  Some even danced with great joy as they celebrated.  They did not act like people "in need", they acted like a person celebrating Christmas.  Which leads me back to my third point.


I have a lot to be thankful for.  I tend to get wrapped up in the material aspects of what life is and become spoiled in my sense of what's important.  I watched people who may have had less possessions than me, but they certainly had a thankful heart that was much stronger than mine at that moment.  So, for that I am thankful.  I am thankful for the clarity and the reminder that what I have is because God chose to give it to me, not because I worked for it and earned it.  I am thankful to have food, heat, a roof over my head, my health, and the ability to work and provide for my family.


If you want to know more about the Feast of Sharing, please click on the link below and read more about it in our Express News article from Sunday's paper:


http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/local_news/article/Feast-of-Sharing-brings-everyone-to-the-table-2409618.php


On behalf of FoodieGems.com, we wish all of you a very Merry Christmas and a safe, prosperous New Year.  We ask that you take the time to think about the past year and give thanks for what you have and for what you don't have.  Spend time with family and loved ones.  And please don't forget to take a moment to think about what you can do to help others who need it.


Thank you for reading and God Bless.


Sincerely,


Thomas Quiles III